The Cuisinart was also the only grill with which we experienced grease flare-ups when cooking. No other grill in this group could match the rock-solid temperature control of this iconic cooker. Readings from our own thermocouples, plus a digital pit thermometer, confirmed this.
One downside to this grill is the ash pan, which can only be emptied by reaching into the grill and lifting it up and out of the kettle. The pan is not as deep as the Weber Premium’s pan, so it requires more frequent cleaning, which can only be done when the grill is entirely cooled off. But if you like the unusual venting system, you aren’t put off by more frequent cleaning and you want a charcoal grill with a few more bells and whistles than a Weber, then this may be the grill for you. If you’re looking for a well-built gas grill to sizzle your steaks, the Weber Spirit II E-310 is our top pick for a gas grill.
The Performer® Deluxe charcoal grill performs from beginning to end. Light coals with the Touch-N-Go gas ignition, prep food on the large work table, and know that cleanup will be easy with the One-Touch™ cleaning system. Finish mixing salad on the side table while grates heat in preparation for the main course. Once all is done, and the timer sounds, take in the warm feeling of serving company amazing food.
This’ll give you more temperature zones, and make getting everything to the table so much easier. Lastly, you need to make sure your grill fits your allotted space, and/or is able to move, should you need to store it or bring it on a roadtrip. This grill’s open cart design provides additional storage space for your favorite tools, and it has integrated hooks on the side tables, as well. The grill is available in several colors, and it has an easy-to-read fuel gauge next to the propane tank to let you know how much fuel you have remaining.
Plus, the size-to-weight ratio is fabulous; there’s a lot of grate space, but it’s light enough to move it around to wherever I feel like grilling. There’s a learning curve, of course, when it comes to controlling heat on a charcoal grill, but once learned, it’s plain sailing from there. As with all charcoal grills, your briquettes or lumps rest near the bottom of the bowl on a grate that keeps them off the base of the pit to allow airflow. Spider Grills Pella manages to make the charcoal-fueled Weber a wood-pellet grill in an elegant and easy way.
We enjoyed the ease of being able to hinge open the lid on the Blackjack for a quick flip of our meat during our tests. If you want to use a wood pellet grill, you’ll definitely get great-tasting food, though you’ll have to plan in advance to have pellets on hand. Since wood pellet grills work by indirect portable bbq heat, you’ll be able to smoke food as well, without any accessories. You will need to make sure there’s an electric outlet nearby since most need to be plugged-in for the ignition and the auger. The SmokeFire EX4 has a 20-pound pellet hopper, as well as a DC-powered engine designed to prevent auger jams.
We got good results in one or another respect with the other models, but they didn’t perform consistently great on everything the way the Weber did. It’s compact yet big enough to cook an entire elaborate meal for a family, a simple spread for a party, or even a whole Thanksgiving turkey. Over the course of two days, we put three charcoal grills through a battery of tests designed to demonstrate their qualities and highlight their differences. We cooked burgers on high heat to see how well the grills seared meat and how even and intense a heat they could generate across the whole grate surface. Then we slow-grilled cut-up chickens to see if our contenders could hold a low temperature evenly across the whole grate.
Another great component is the hinged grate’s circular insert where you can quickly add charcoals while cooking. You do have to take the whole grate off to re-adjust your fuel though, one of the few downsides. When weber charcoal grill grilling time is over, this again has an advantage over older kettle grills. The ash is swept into the bottom catcher for easy disposal once it’s cooled, while everything else only needs a quick wipe-down.
We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. Ribs cooked on the Napoleon grill came out tasty, though with bark that was a little dry. Stack your charcoal briquettes in two rows of two deep along the inner wall of the grill. Add the extra money you pay for the Napoleon grill over the Weber kettle that it emulates, and the Weber model’s superiority is even starker. We also interviewed senior product managers from almost every major grill maker at the 2017 Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Expo in Atlanta in early March 2017, including representatives from Weber and Napoleon. However, if you’re someone who is interested in smoking meat, it’s definitely worthy of consideration.
On cart-style grills, we modify the snake to run in right angles to match their rectangular-shaped fireboxes. The best charcoal grill for steak searing in our lineup was the Weber Classic Kettle. The steak had nice grill marks while keeping a medium doneness on the inside.